Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health, led a team of officials on December 17 to survey food hygiene conditions in Kim Bien market in District 5 as well as in canteens of departments of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.
Food items using harmful chemical additives continue to sell in markets heedless of their harmful effects on human health. Customers are lured by their colourful appearance and eye catching packaging.
Luu Thi Kim Nhung, head of Kim Bien market management board, said there are 17 traders dealing in food chemical additives in about 21 stalls in the market. Nhung said most additives need to be preserved at 15-20 degrees Celsius and avoid direct sunlight.
Thai Thanh Hai, head of the economic department in District 5 said that the district has granted 35 certificates of food hygiene and safety to a total of 103 food chemical additive traders. However, all traders don’t have refrigerators and have little knowledge about use of toxic additives in foods, Hai added.
Ministry of health officials co-ordinated with leaders of the People’s Committee to conduct inspections of wholesale markets in the city and warned authorities of contaminated animal meat and poultry.
According to Phan Xuan Thao, head of the HCMC Department for Animal Health, most of the animal meat and poultry consumed in the city comes from provinces. However, there are all kinds of contaminated foods still flooding the city.
This year in eight food poisoning cases around 848 people were victims of serious food poisoning, an increase of 100 people since last year.
For coping with food poisoning problems, Hua Ngoc Thuan, deputy chairman of HCMC People’s Committee said city authorities have asked industrial and export processing zones to build kitchen areas on plots and restrict bringing food from outside vendors.
Thuan said the city is gearing to cope with checking hygiene and safety of 50 percent of food items entering the city by 2015. The city has been implementing a program to ensure food hygiene and safety from cultivated areas to consumers in markets.
Minister Tien asked city leaders to set up food checkpoints in wholesale markets in the city, aimed to strengthen inspections of food. On the other hand, city needs to strengthen and penalize violators and post information of violation cases via media.
Medics believe that eating food contaminated with lead over a long period of time can cause damage to the nervous system, impair brain functions, cause kidney failure and in extreme cases even lead to death.
Minister conducts food hygiene inspections prior to Tet
The Minister of Health led a team of officials to survey food hygiene conditions in Kim Bien market in District 5 as well as in canteens of departments of the HCM City People’s Committee.
Source: SGGP
